Saturday, March 27, 2010

Daring Bakers Orange Tian

Orange Tian

 The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris. A tian is simple elegant layered dessert. A delicate  shortbread crust covered with marmalade, a fruity stabilized whipped cream,  and fruit pieces topped with a  caramel sauce.

The mandatory steps were: tart dough, caramel sauce, marmalade, stabilized whipped cream with marmalade folded in we also added a dash of triple sec to the cream to boost the citrus flavor,  and fruit pieces. Each step by itself was not difficult and the end result was greater than the sum of the parts. The secret to this recipe is that it is assembled upside down. The tart dough is cut  and baked into individual cookies the size of your mold. The fruit is marinated in caramel sauce than placed in the mold and covered with the whipped cream layer.   Marmalade is spread on ones side of cookie crust, than placed in the mold marmalade side to the cream. Place in the freezer to set. Serve with a drizzle of caramel sauce.


The result is a luscious light, creamy and refreshing dessert.  Perfect for summertime when you want something cool and fruity.  Of course you don't have to limit your fruit to citrus. Almost any fruit would be a winner.  I not sure that marinating the fruit in the caramel sauce did anything to enhance the flavor and I would probably omit this step in the future, except for fruits that oxidize (bananas, peaches and apples) with air contact. One other important step is to leave your tian in the freezer long enough to set the dessert so you can unmold it cleanly. Once unmolded store in the refrigerator, so the fruit doesn't freeze to hard chunks.
 
Orange Tian
Pate Sablee
2 egg yolks
2.8 oz (6TB) Sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4c plus 3 tbs.(3.5oz) butter
7oz (1 1/2c+2tbs) AP flour
1tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
 1. Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
2. In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.
3. Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogeneous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
5. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.
6. Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.
 Orange Marmalade
3.5oz (1/4c.+3TBS) orange juice
1 large orange cut into slices
Cold water enough to orange slice
5 grams pectin
Sugar  same weight as oranges after they are cooked
8 large oranges for segments
1. Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.
2. Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.
3. Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.
4. Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).
5. Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don‘t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.
6. In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).
7. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
For the Orange Segments
1. For this step you will need 8 oranges.
2. Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.
Caramel
1 cup sugar
14oz orange juice(1.5 cups +2Tbs)
 Directions:
1. Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.
2. Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.
3. Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.
Cream
 1 cup heavy cream
3 tbs hot water
1 tsp gelatin
1 tbs confectioner’s sugar
1 tbs orange marmalade
 
1. In a small bowl, add the gelatin and hot water, stirring well until the gelatin dissolves. Let the gelatin cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream.
2- Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute.
3- Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatin slowly while beating continuously.
4- Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.
Assembling the Dessert:
1. Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.
2. Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.
3. Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.
4. Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.
5. Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.
6. Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.
7. Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.
8. Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.
9. Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.
10. Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.
To see what the other Daring Bakers did visit our blogroll at The Daring Kitchen